Knuffle Bunny

By Mo Willems, Hyperion

Summary

An exciting trip to the laundromat goes bad when Trixie realizes that her knuffle bunny has somehow gotten lost along the way. Will she be able to find the words to tell her father what is wrong? Or will he continue to guess the wrong thing?

Guidelines for Philosophical Discussion

By Ariel Sykes

The book Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems introduces the problems with communication and provides a framework in which to discuss several questions concerning the philosophy of language. Trixie, a young girl who has not yet learned how to talk, goes on an errand to the laundromat with her father. She brings along her favorite stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny, who then gets left behind in the washing machine. On the way home, Trixie realizes this and turns to her father and says, “Aggle flaggle klabble!” Her father does not understand Trixie, even after she waves her hands, points, cries, and refuses to move. As soon as they arrive home her mother asks, “Where’s Knuffle Bunny?” The family runs back to the laundry mat and eventually finds Trixie’s beloved stuffed animal. Upon seeing her bunny, Trixie speaks her first words, “Knuffle Bunny.”

In a world dominated by language, we rely so heavily on communicating with those around us. Language is something that we all use, yet few reflect upon. How does language shape our thoughts? What are thoughts? To what extent can we successfully communicate with others? What does it mean to know a word? These questions and many more can be discussed when using this book.

Throughout the decades philosophers have argued about the nature of language and meaning. Admittedly, most adults use language without serious reflection on how and why what we say can sometimes be successful in communicating our ideas and sometimes unsuccessful. Children, on the other hand, naturally puzzle over the use and role of language, similarly to how philosophers first contemplated the nature of language. A child’s educational experience is dominated by language, as everything rests upon the ability to articulate one’s thoughts successfully. While children are learning new skills in communicating by interacting with others, they are also being constantly introduced to new words. Thus, since the mysteries of language suffuse a child’s everyday experiences, children are naturally curious about how language and communication function.

The idea that Trixie is unable to communicate to her father that she is missing her stuffed animal raises an interesting philosophical issue. Humans communicate in other ways besides words, such as through emotions, signals and body language. For this reason, philosophers are naturally concerned with understanding the usefulness and limits of linguistic practices. While actions, such as crying, are successful on some levels, they can still lack specificity. This issue of ambiguity arises directly when Trixie attempts to use emotions and signals to communicate with her father.
When discussing Trixie’s attempts to tell her father what is wrong, the question arises over whether or not we can ever be 100% successful when communicating with other. Additionally, this can lead to talking with children about the other options one could use to communicate. When we communicate with one another, we commonly use expressions which refer to a specific object by using ‘this’ or ‘that ’ combined with pointing. Trixie even tries this approach, yet even though she points back to the Laundromat her father still does not understand. Children will easily recognize able this and enthusiastically provide hypotheses over why Trixie’s pointing failed to communicate what she wanted. This can lead into a further discussion over the ambiguities in reference and provide an opportunity for children to form their own opinions about communicating with actions. Philosophers of language have been striving to create an account of demonstratives that reflects their role within our language.

Additionally, children will love the silliness of Trixie’s remarks as they can relate to her struggle with speaking. Talking about Trixie’s “Aggle flaggle klabble” will prompt a discussion over what counts as a language. In trying to create a philosophical account and description of the nature of language, it is interesting to contemplate how we would communicate without a language. Additionally, children will really enjoy thinking about the philosophical question, “do you think language would exist if you were the only person on earth?” This question is of great philosophical interest, as many philosophers reflect on what sort of thought is possible in the absence of language. The relationship between mind and thought has been thought by many as being dependent, though other philosophers have seen it as independent. In talking about these issues with children, you can get them to question their assumptions. Is it true that to have a mind is to have thoughts? Many philosophers would argue that this seems to be the case since we can think without the ability to verbally express our thoughts through speech.
When discussing Knuffle Bunny with children it is crucial to remember to let their questions guide the discussion. This book is a little different than the others on the website, as the story is intended to prompt a discussion about the nature of language but not all the topics are directly related to the book. For this reason there is a wide variety of questions and topics included in the question set. In letting children carry the discussion about language in the direction that most interests them, you will see how their interests and curiosity of the subject will lead them to philosophical questions that many philosophers have asked. Each discussion with this book will be different, as every child’s curiosity leads them down a different path and into different issues surrounding language and communication.

Questions for Philosophical Discussion

By Ariel Sykes

Communication

Before Trixie could even speak words, she went on an errand with her daddy to the laundromat.

How did Trixie communicate with her father “before she could even speak words?”

Did Trixie have any other choice than to cry to try to get her dad to realize her bunny was missing?

Was Trixie successful in communicating to her father what was wrong? She successful in showing she was upset, she knew that smiling wouldn’t be sufficient. She conveyed the right emotion. What if she had said “quack?”

Have you ever had trouble communicating something to someone? What made it difficult?

How did you solve the communication problem?

If Trixie was ultimately unsuccessful in telling her father what was wrong, can you ever be truly 100% successful when communicating with others?

Is what something means to you always mean the same thing for another person?

Think of describing the color blue, do you describe it and see it as the same color as your friend?

Language and Behavior

When Trixie realizes she left her favorite stuffed animal behind, she tries to tell her father through her actions.

Are there some things that words are better at communicating than actions? What about behavior?

Can behavior ever be as specific as words?

Does the way a person is acting when they are saying something change how you understand what they are saying?

How do you know when someone is being silly or serious with their words?

Is language just as dependent on behavior as it is on words?

The Nature of Meaning

When Trixie finally speaks, she says “Knuffle Bunny!”

How do you know the meaning of a word? What does it take to know a word?

There are lots of words that you haven’t looked up in a dictionary, how do you know what they mean? If you have never asked someone to define the meaning of “the” and have ever looked it up, how do you still know what it means?

Are there words or concepts that you just learned this year?

If you don’t know a word, when will you learn it? Is there a certain age, grade, experience that makes you able to learn a word?

What does it mean to know a word?

For a blind person, it their idea or a word or concept different than yours? Even if a blind person can give the dictionary definition of a word, is this the same thing as understanding the word?

If you don’t need to be able to hear and see to learn words, then what does this suggest about the nature of language? English seems to be based on verbal and visual meanings.

Misusing Words

Do you ever use a word that you don’t mean? Example: I am starving, I am dying of thirst, the use of the word “like”

Why don’t you use the correct word instead? Why do you say that word if that isn’t what you actually mean? For example: I am really hungry instead of I am starving

Why does everyone else understand what you are saying even when you don’t use the word correctly?

Knowledge and Meaning

Even though Trixie could not speak, she still knew that she was missing her knuffle bunny.

Are there some things that words fail to explain?

Can you know something without being able to explain it?

What about an oxymoron? For example: a little big, bad luck, bigger half, jumbo shrimp, good grief, etc.

Variation in Meaning

Why do some words have many meanings? Is it useful?

How can you make sure that the person listening to you knows what meaning you are intending? Do words that have many meanings make miscommunication more likely? Who decides what meaning is correct?

When I think of Disneyland, I will be thinking of a different set of things than you. Why is this the case? How do experiences and assumptions influence our understandings of words?

If some words all mean the same thing, then how do you decide which one to use? For example: different, unique, distinct, dissimilar, unalike, not the same, unequal, not matching, diverse, etc. Why do we have so many different words that mean the same thing? What is the purpose?

Do meanings of words always stay the same, or can they change?

Can we invent words?

What makes a word a real word?

Thought

Even though Trixe could not speak, she was still able to think about what she was trying to tell her father.

How does language shape our thoughts?

When you learn more, do you think more?

Can you think without words? Can thoughts exist without a language?

How could you tell?

The Nature of Language

Before Trixie could talk, she tried to communicate with her father through her own language.

What is necessary for a language to be a language?

What about sign-language?

Is there a reason why some languages have many letter and words and some don’t?

Could one language be more useful than another?

More or less confusing?

Chinese vs. Hawaiian

The Role of Language

Why are there so many different languages? What is different and the same about them?

Why is there a need to have different languages? Would it be ideal to have just one language? Are there ethical issues? Would parts of cultures be lost? Is it possible just to have one language?

Are there some things that everyone can understand and communicate even without having a shared language? What makes it so that everyone can understand such things? Is there a true universal language?

Have you ever visited a place where no one spoke English? How did you communicate? Was it hard?

What strategies were successful in communicating? Which ones were not helpful?

Do you think humans always had a language? How did we communicate before we had a language?

If we lived in a world without language, how would we communicate?

Would we be successful in communicating?

Do you think language would exist if you were the only person on earth? Would there be a need for words?

If you lived in a world in which nothing had a name, would you still have concepts of things?

Extension

At one point when Trixie is trying to tell her father what is wrong she points.

When I say, “look at that” while pointing to an object what am I referring to?

Is it the color, shape, texture, a certain part of the object, or the object as a whole?

Names

Does your name have a meaning?

What about people who have the same name as you?

Language and Animals

Do animals have thoughts? How can you tell?

Do animals have a language?

Is it that we can’t understand animal language?

When a dog barks at something, is he trying to tell you something? How can you tell?

Do you think the dog is thinking about what it is trying to tell you? Or is it just barking out of instinct, as a reaction?

When you tell a dog the command, “sit” and it sits, is this because the dog understands what is being asked of him? Do dogs understand the meaning of “to sit”? Is sitting just a learned behavior?